Trot on over to the Tricycle Q & A if you'd like the chance to have your question on the dharma or anything else answered by Gil Fronsdal, the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California. Fronsdal has a Ph. D. in Buddhist Studies from Stanford, and many of his audio teachings are available online, such as those on the Zencast blog. The Tricycle Q & A software was developed by a group called Zooleo, run by our friend Soren Gordhamer, founder of the Lineage Project. They have many other interesting summits going on around the web, so please take a look!
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6.23 Confucius said, "When a cornered vessel no longer has any corners, should it be called a cornered vessel? Should it?" - The Analects, quoted in Wing-Tsit Chan's Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1963
The Confucian school, like many other schools of Chinese philosophy, had a theory about names and actuality, commonly called the "rectification of names." The Confucians held that the rectification of names was an ethical project, not merely a metaphysical or logical concern, because all things must be fit into their proper scheme in the universe. But you don't have to be a Confucian to want to set the record straight on Buddhism and the quotes about it attributed to various luminaries and used to promote (or defend?) the dharma.
To wit: There are two similar versions of a prominent Einstein quote on Buddhism floating around the web, reproducing themselves in viral fashion. They are:
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Danny Fisher has a good round-up of the sad / hopeful goings-on in Burma. And Tricycle's own Jeff Wilson gives us a statement on Burma from the Buddhist Churches of America.
U.N. Envoy to Burma Ibrahim Gambari says the talks between opposition leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi and the Rangoon regime make him hopeful, but "much more is needed" to bring about real results. And meanwhile Burmese government forces are back out on the street in force and surrounding "holy sites" in order to forestall more action by Burma's monks.
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Great piece about some guys on a mission to meet the Dalai Lama.
A blogger in San Diego reports on the fires there.
BURMA: Normalcy / Normality in Burma from the Penguin Blog. Plus, the Burmese regime agrees to an earlier visit by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari. Australia imposes new sanctions on Myanmar. Is the willingness of the junta to deal more openly with the U.N.
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Earlier this year Wisdom Publications released Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life and Letters of an Irish Zen Saint by Maura Soshin O'Halloran. This extraordinary young woman (sadly numbered among those forever young, since she was robbed of the chance to grow older) was a world-traveller who became a very serious student of Zen in Japan in the early 1980s.
The book is a collection of Maura's journals and letters, mainly chronicling her stay in Japan, and is a rare and valuable window into the world of intensive Zen training as experienced by a Western woman.
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Two of our favorite sites, The Worst House and Dreaming of Danzana Ravjaa, point us to two ha-ha's on the DL's visit with Dubya: one from Slate and the other a Letterman Top Ten list.
Some blowback on the visit: Chinese authorities drop the hammer on celebrations -- or rather, attempted celebrations -- over the DL's visit stateside.
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Yet another piece on the Dalai Lama's visit to New York from the Times, but with some interesting bits:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg invited him to a Gracie Mansion breakfast last Friday with 20 or so New York Buddhists. The event was not listed on Mr. Bloomberg’s public schedule. Leaving it off was not a political statement, a mayoral spokesman said. Mr. Bloomberg routinely has groups over for breakfast in private. Besides, the spokesman said, the mayor wanted the Dalai Lama’s appearance to be a surprise to the other guests.
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Three trends that will keep Burma on the world's radar: diplomatic pressure from the West and China, increasing interconnectedness due to globalization, and the internet, particularly petitions by groups such as MoveOn.org.
Don't give up hope on hitting the Burmese generals where it hurts, says Tom Malinowski of the Washington Post. Try smart, targeted sanctions, among other things.
And a postcard from Burma: "Please tell others what you have seen here."
- Philip Ryan, Web Editor
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Life is superficially returning to normal in Burma (the Rangoon curfew is lifted) but fear is not far beneath the surface.
The White House orders sanctions on Burma, which means freezing the U.S.-held assets for some members of the junta and tightening the restrictions on exporting/importing certain products to/from Burma. Does that include oil? Now Congress needs to follow this up.
And Panties for Peace: as a sign of protest, women are sending panties to the junta:
The group, Lanna Action for Burma, says the country's superstitious generals, especially junta leader Gen.
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President Bush is threatening more sanctions for Myanmar for continuing to defy international will and failing to "stop their vicious persecution." He also called on India and China, Burma's most powerful neighbors, to do more. This last part seems like the way to go. You can try and isolate countries like North Korea and Cuba, and the people end up starving while the government grows rich. Burma was pretty much a closed country anyway. But how about the president calls David J. O'Reilly, CEO of Chevron, and tells him to stop doing business in Myanmar? Well, human rights are human rights, but dammit, we need that oil. Take a look at how many dictatorships are propped up by oil money.
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We get a tremendous amount of mail from prisoners here at Tricycle, and we do our best to send them something in reply to their letters. Beth Phelan of the Vajrayana Institute in Sydney, Australia (guiding light behind the tremendous Happiness & Its Causes conferences) visited us today and, talking about last year's conference, mentioned the dynamic Buddhist nun the Venerable Robina Courtin and the incredible work she does on the Liberation Prison Project, which works with Buddhists in prisons around the world.
The U.S. has a prison problem.
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The Burmese government is saying it detained nearly 3,000 people during the protests. Around 500 are probably still in custody. China, Burma's most prominent supporter, says it agrees with UN envoy Gambari's mission, which is to get the southeast Asian nations (and probably India, if China's for it) to call Myanmar to account. Also Japan, which gave Myanmar 26.1 million dollars or so last year, is withholding that money now. (By comparison, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees earned about 22 million dollars last year.)
In Washington, DC yesterday, the Dalai Lama voiced his support for the Burmese monks. He also said his successor might be chosen by an unorthodox method.
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There's a new site out called the Vipassana Meditation Forum, run by the Irreverent Buddhist. Looks like it's getting a lot of action after only a few days alone, which is great.
Also came across the site Awakening 101, a self-guided tour of the Dharma. It included the cool pic below, from the Illustrated History of Buddhism.
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This weekend, Tricycle's hometown of New York City was lucky (or big and rich) enough to host His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. In lieu of his usual barnstorming, His Holiness gave three full days of teachings at a Manhattan landmark, Radio City Music Hall, home of the Rockettes (yes, they're alive and... kicking). Did they welcome him to town with a saffron kick-line? Sadly, no, but Radio City made for a magnificent venue, the huge arched ceiling lit a subtle orange. (Here's a photo from flickr that gives you an idea, despite the biblical scene.)
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No, that headline is not some disillusioned do-gooder decrying the world's lack of action on the Burma situation, but rather a petulant Chinese official mad at the US for dealing with the Dalai Lama. Big Red's hopping mad over the DL's visit to Washington, DC, where he'll trade pleasantries with the Prez for the third time. He'll also visit Capital Hill and be honored by the US Congress with the Congressional Gold medal.
“Such a person who basely splits his motherland and doesn’t even love his motherland has been welcomed by some countries and has even been receiving this or that award,” Tibet’s Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, told reporters during the [Communist Party] congress.
“We are furious,” Mr. Zhang said.
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